A za nami już 58. rocznica lotu.
http://lk.astronautilus.pl/loty/m3.htm05.05.1961 o 14:34:13,48 z wyrzutni LC-5 na Cape Canaveral została wystrzelona RN Redstone MRLV , która wyniosła na wysokość 187 km statek kosmiczny Mercury 3 Freedom 7 z pierwszym Amerykaninem, który przekroczył linię Kármána.
Lot trwał 15m 22s.
1961 May 5 - . 14:34 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Redstone. Launch Vehicle: Redstone MRLV.
Mercury MR-3 - . Call Sign: Freedom 7. Crew: Shepard. Backup Crew: Grissom. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Grissom, Shepard. Agency: NASA. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Mercury MR-3. Spacecraft: Mercury. Duration: 0.0107 days. Apogee: 187 km (116 mi).
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made the first United States manned space flight in a Mercury spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral atop the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) vehicle. "Freedom 7" completed the suborbital, ballistic flight without incident in this historical first mission of NASA's Project Mercury. Alan Shepard first American in space, less than a month after Gagarin and only on a 15 minute suborbital flight. Only manned flight with original Mercury capsule design (tiny round porthole and periscope a la Vostok). If NASA had not listened to Von Braun, Shepard would have flown on the MR-BD flight of 24 March, beating Gagarin by three weeks and becoming the first man in space (though not in orbit). Shepard's capsule reached an altitude of 115.696 miles, range of 302 miles,and speed of 5,100 miles per hour. He demonstrated control of a vehicle during weightlessness and high G stresses. Recovery operations were perfect; there was no damage to the spacecraft; and Astronaut Shepard was in excellent condition.
http://www.astronautix.com/m/may05.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_3“What a Beautiful View”: Remembering America’s First Man in Space, OTD in 1961By Ben Evans, on May 5th, 2019
The excited crew of the U.S.S. Lake Champlain watch Shepard’s final seconds of descent. Twelve hundred would crowd the deck to welcome America’s newest hero home. Photo Credit: NASALess than 24 hours after Prather’s demise, it was, for Shepard and for America, “a beautiful day”. Twelve hundred sailors crowded the deck of the Lake Champlain, cheering the nation’s newest hero. Freedom 7 would be exhibited at 1961’s Paris Air Show, and the astronaut himself set foot on the deck of the recovery ship as the clock struck 10. Across the nation, the euphoria was electrifying. Floridians cheered, John Glenn jokingly asked for another Redstone to be set up for him, New Hampshire’s governor visited Shepard’s hometown, schools were closed and military aircraft dropped confetti. The astronaut’s proud parents and sister rode in an open-topped convertible, his wife, Louise, chatted to journalists outside her Virginia Beach home and Navy jets spelled the letter “S” in the sky.
For the hero, the first hour back on Earth was spent reliving the 15 minutes in mind-numbing detail for the physicians, the psychologists, the engineers, and the scientists. No, he did not sleep. No, he did not defecate. Yes, there was a noticeable odor in the cabin (urine). The questions seemed unending. He was then flown to Grand Bahama Island for several days of tests. (...)
https://www.americaspace.com/2019/05/05/what-a-beautiful-view-remembering-americas-first-man-in-space-otd-in-1961/https://www.forum.kosmonauta.net/index.php?topic=800.msg92529#msg92529https://twitter.com/spacemen1969/status/1654368577527349248https://twitter.com/NASAhistory/status/1654478557806993408https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654514992769531914https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654606905086550016https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654625798094049286